Tartan it up

Toe,
I've been slow to respond. I read your posts this weekend (or Friday, even), but I've been busy. C*'s been working at home, too, so I haven't had much alone time to type my thoughts--I'm either working or hanging with the wife.

I had no idea you were going to Mexico! Sounds like an awesome trip. I used to have negative ideas about Mexico, that it is somehow dirty and not a place I want to visit, but I've seen pictures and have talked to people about it, and it seems like an amazing and beautiful place. I'd like to see your pictures and see where you went. I am ignorant of Mexican geography, so a map would be good. Maybe the next time I am in DC we can drag out an atlas and talk travel.

I'm envious you go to New York so often. How is El's job going?

I took on an extra project, so I am about to start my evening shift at work. Nothing too strenuous--just 400 pages of editing, sort of grunt work compared to my day job, but I enjoy it and feel more at ease doing it than, say, figuring out marketing plans and shit. C* is out at her school cleaning up and preparing for the new semester. HI-C rolled into town this past weekend--I told her I had met El last month, and she was tickled to hear about it. HI-C is so cheery. She's like a little Pacific Ocean sunbeam, right here in the midwest.

OK, some brief Scottish political geography--Scotland is on the same main island as England (although there are small islands off the coast that are considered Scotland, too), and Scotland is part of what you would call "Great Britain" or (with Northern Ireland) the United Kingdom. There's a long history of Scots fighting with the English and English oppressing the Scots (as late as the 80s, economically speaking), but there has been no uprising in a 100 years or more (I think--I'm still brushing up on my history). However, never refer to a Scot as a "Englishman," or even a "Brit." They consider themselves to be a different people altogether, and although they are still under British rule, in 1999 they devolved into some limited self-government, and now have their own parliament in Edinburgh. Plus, they've printed their own money for decades now--it's still British pounds, but it says "Bank of Scotland" or whatever on it, and it's not accepted in England for some reason. It's all a little odd.

It's a great country. The Scots are a lot friendlier than the English--not that the Brits are unfriendly, they are just more reserved. The country itself is beautiful-very green and lush in many places, and cut through with valleys and lots of mountains and hills in the highlands.

Did I send you the URL for our pictures of the trip?

I better get to work. I'll type another update soon.

E-word